The present invention relates generally to a device for remotely decoying deer when hunting by imitating the sound of deer antlers clashing. The invention provides for producing the sound of antlers clashing at a location remote from the location of the hunter in order to maximize the hunter's chance of intercepting any deer investigating the sound.
Deer hunting generally takes place during the fall of the year and oftentimes the deer hunting season is timed to coincide with the mating season of deer. During the mating season, male deer often compete with one another for territory and females with which to mate. In the process of competing for mates, male deer frequently will fight by locking antlers with one another and pushing and thrusting in order to demonstrate dominance. During the mating season, or "rut" as it is more commonly called, male deer in any given territory are very sensitive to intrusion by other males and are disposed toward investigating any competition among other males which takes place in their territory.
Deer in general, and particularly white tailed deer, are very wary by nature. This is particularly true of the more mature male deer who have survived several seasons of hunting pressure and competition for food and mates by virtue of their wits and instincts. In surviving in the wild, deer rely on sight, sound and primarily smell. It is an observable basic instinct of deer to maneuver themselves into a downwind position so as to be able to scent any activities which they wish to investigate. Accordingly, when male deer are investigating what they believe to be contest among other males for territory and mates, their first instinct is to approach such a conflict from a downwind position to learn more about the situation via scent before approaching the contestants.
One time honored means of attracting deer to a hunter is to imitate the sound of a deer contest by clashing or "rattling" antlers together. This may be accomplished with the use of real antlers or imitation antlers. Most often such rattling is accomplished by a hunter holding an antler in each hand and striking the same together in a measured pattern. Unfortunately, when such a rattling takes place, most deer investigating the same will approach from a downwind position and will smell the hunter creating the rattling noises, perhaps even before the hunter has a chance to see the investigating deer. This is particularly true of the larger, more wary and generally more desirable male deer.
As can be seen from the above discussion, it is therefore desirable to be able to imitate the sound of clashing antlers in a position upwind from the hunter so as to maximize the hunter's chance of intercepting any additional male deer which may investigate the sound. It is also desirable for a hunter to be able to position himself remotely from any movement associated with producing the sound of clashing antlers, so as not to draw the attention of his quarry to him. It is also desirable to imitate the odor of contesting male deer in addition to the sounds produced by such a contest. Accordingly, for these and other reasons, the need exists for a device to remotely decoy deer in order to maximize a hunter's success and chances of bagging a trophy animal.